cavar vs chamar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“cavar” and “chamar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,601
“cavar” frequency rank: #884
“chamar” frequency rank: 24485
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cavar	chamar
Definition	abrir ou revolver a terra com enxada ou sacho; escavar; sachar	solicitar a atenção ou a aproximação de alguém ou de algum animal (com palavras ou sinais)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cavar and chamar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

cavar

6 ch

chamar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cavar (/kɐ.ˈvaɾ/) and chamar (/ʃɐ.ˈmaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24485, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cavar is recorded at frequency rank #23,601, classified as averb, pronounced /kɐ.ˈvaɾ/. chamar is at rank #884, tagged as averb, pronounced /ʃɐ.ˈmaɾ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 24485, this pair ranks #45,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cavar vs chamar

Shared letters: acr. Private to "cavar": v. Private to "chamar": hm.

"cavar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "chamar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

cavar ← acvar · caavr · cavarr · cavra · cavvar · ccavar · cvaar
chamar ← cahmar · cchamar · chaamr · chamarr · chammar · chamra · chhamar · chmaar

Frequency comparison

cavar#23,601

chamar#884

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cavar" and "chamar" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/kɐ.ˈvaɾ/ versus /ʃɐ.ˈmaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "cavar" or "chamar"?

"chamar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #884 in our Portuguese list, against #23,601 for "cavar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cavar vs chamar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cavar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable